Update: Chafee puts end to medical marijuana dispensaries

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Governor Chafee announced Thursday afternoon that he has pulled the plug on the state’s program to open three medical marijuana dispensaries in the state.

The decision comes after five months of delays and indecision by Chafee’s office on how they willl proceed with issuing licenses to three dispensaries that were selected by the state Department of Health last spring.

“After much internal and external discussion and research, I have decided that the State of Rhode Island cannot proceed with the licensing and regulation of medical marijuana compassion centers under current law,” Chafee said in a statement.

Thousands of patients in the state program had been awating the opening of the dispensaries, hoping that they would have a safe, secure and reliable place to buy the drug to cope with ailments like cancer, glaucoma and chronic pain.

Continue to the next screen to read Chafee’s full statement:

After much internal and external discussion and research, I have decided that the State of Rhode Island cannot proceed with the licensing and regulation of medical marijuana compassion centers under current law.

This has been a difficult decision. I believe that patients with debilitating medical conditions such as cancer, glaucoma and AIDS should have safe, reliable and well-regulated access to marijuana for therapeutic purposes. Rhode Island has a card and caregiver law currently in place for distributing medical marijuana to patients in need. I have met with and heard from advocate groups and patients that this existing system has serious flaws. In 2009, in an effort to address these flaws, the General Assembly passed a new law authorizing the cultivation and distribution of medical marijuana through three state-registered and regulated compassion centers. The Governor’s constitutional duty is to implement laws passed by the General Assembly and I take that obligation very seriously.

Unfortunately, Rhode Island’s compassion center law is illegal under paramount federal law. And, while the United States Attorney in each district is given some discretion in the local enforcement of federal laws, I have received communications from both the United States Department of Justice and from the United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island that large scale commercial operations such as Rhode Island’s compassion centers will be potential targets of “vigorous” criminal and civil enforcement efforts by the federal government. I cannot implement a state marijuana cultivation and distribution system which is illegal under federal law and which will become a target of federal law enforcement efforts. Federal injunctions, seizures, forfeitures, arrests and prosecutions will only hurt the patients and caregivers that our law was designed to protect.

I remain committed to improving the existing medical marijuana cultivation and distribution system in Rhode Island. I am hopeful that the General Assembly will introduce new legislation in the upcoming session that will address the flaws in, and indeed make improvement to, the existing medical marijuana card and caregiver system while not triggering federal enforcement actions. I pledge to work with advocates, patients and members of the General Assembly towards that end.

Chafee is a bitch and I AM IN PAIN!!! I am a medical marijuana patient with NO caregiver for over 2 years yet the health department wants my 75 dollars every 2 years to read the same paper work and reapprove it all for nothing so I can go to my local Drug dealer to buy street marijuana!

Most caregivers are only doing it because they can smoke for free and lie to the mm patient by saying the crop failed so they can sell it to make money any caregiver who says different is lying.They dont even have to tell you the crop failed because they sell it to whoever reguardless.

I have met at least one who is doing this as we speak.. he even sold me someone elses Medical Marijuana at an over inflated price that should of been for his patient he was helping. This guy doesnt have a real job and basically lives off of the money he makes to grow for patients.I never made that guy my caregiver because he was shady. He couldn’t even get the electric bill in his name. He had it in his girlfriends name who didnt live with him and whenever she was pissed at him she would have the power cut off. When he proudly showed me his dead mm plants after making me wait over an hour in his kitchen outside of his bedroom as he argued with his girlfriend.. I was not impressed this was the first time I met a potential caregiver and everything about him screamed shady loser!The caregivers expect money for every bag they give you just like a drug dealer they have you by the balls.Caregivers DO NOT want the compassion centers to open because they know their days of stealing from patients will be OVER!

If The so called compassion centers want to help now that chafee has bitched out if they really cared and were not in it for the money they would contact the Few patients that dont have caregivers and offer their services for free to come to my home and grow for me and pay for the growing just like they would of for the Compassion centers they want to open.Basically becoming my at home caregiver where it would be easier for me to keep tract of what they are up to.Summit medical center,Dr Seth Bock green leaf compassion center,Slater compassion center, These three chosen groups should be reaching out to patients to help us grow at home!!!If they really were in it to help patients then why hasnt even one of them stood up to help us AT HOME at their expense same thing as a compassion center just without lining their pockets!